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Jill
Jill is a country in Floyd, bordered by the Monterry Sea to the north, the Southern Ocean to the south, and Easten and Terra to the east and west respectably. Its capital is Port Justin on the Jar River. History Exploration and settling (1790—1835) Before its foundation in 1835, Jill was an uninhabited land that had been the center of much interest for explorers and settlers residing north in Eneritia. While both the northern and southern coasts of Jill had been mapped and explored extensively, there was little knowledge of the inner geography of the land. Starting in the 1790s, groups of explorers from Eneritia sailed southward to Jill and charted the land, discovering a wide variety of natural resources, natural harbors and wide, deep rivers for shipping, and a lush environment that encouraged a large agricultural industry. It was these positive factors that convinced settlers to found many cities along the Jar River, notably North Port and Port Justin. North Port, the first settlement in Jill, was founded as a port on the north shore so that goods could be shipped to the new nation from Eneritia, and Port Justin served as the center of government and economy. The Southern Proclamation in 1835 established Jill as a nation, and set its exact borders with its neighboring countries (Easten and Terra). Early growth (1835—1860) When Jill's new government met for the first time in 1836, the principle goals were to lay the foundation for a basic road network and draft a strong constitution with a heavy emphasis on individual rights. At the time, Jill had an extremely small and underpowered temporary government that lacked a proper judicial department. This period of low government authority combined with an extremely large area of land is known as the "Lawless Period". It wasn't until 1837 that the constitution came into effect, and not until the mid 1840s when the government was able to recruit enough citizens to create a larger government with proper ways to execute rule of law. By the late 1840s, Jill was a prospering nation that had already established a very strong economy based on mining and agriculture. Port Justin became an increasingly important population center, with numerous corporations opening up their operations into Jill via the city. Other smaller cities, such as Brownsville and North Oak, were also influenced heavily by economic development. During the 1850s and 1860s, Jill's agricultural industry exploded as a wave of farms were built stretching from Brownsville southward to Shady Oaks. This economic boom became known as the Farming Era, which further increased Jill's impact on the foreign world and increased the nation's population dramatically. During this period Jill became the world's second largest exporter of grains and vegetables, and largest exporter of fruit. Expansion into a world power and Floyd War I (1860—1905) Jill's exports exploded during the 1860s and 1870s, securing the relatively new nation as a crucial world power in Floyd. Coupled with the boost in the agriculture industry, many cities in Jill (mostly in the north) became centers of manufacturing. The abundance of sheltered land and dense forest in North Oak made it a center of the weapons manufacturing industry, eventually Jill's military followed suit and constructed a large military base southeast of the city. The 1880s was a dramatic time for foreign relations, as Easten and Slagen became increasingly aggravated with the Northern Territory, a large totalitarian dictatorship that was placing troops along its borders. As the Northern Territory continued to deny opening talks and moved units closer and closer to Easten and Slagen, the tensions eventually exploded into war. Floyd War I broke out when the Northern Territory captured 15 training Easten soldiers and refused to negotiate any release. Jill, Easten, Slagen and Eneritia formed the Green Alliance and fought a bloody, destructive 11-year war. The Greens were forced to cut straight through to the capital of the Northern Territory, not achieving the feat until 1901. During the war, Port Justin and North Port were bombed, the first and only attacks on Jillian soil. Continued growth (1905—1970) Jill continued to develop rapidly after Floyd War I. Port Justin became an increasingly important international center of business, developing a strong economy with far-reaching international ties. Both North Port and River End became important port cities, completely reshaping the world's trade economy. The 1950s were an important time for infrastructure in Jill, as the nation began a massive effort to reconstruct its aging road and rail networks. The political climate of the nation shifted dramatically from the 1940s to the 1960s, and the Green Party, a progressive party that acted as a main contender to the historically powerful Democratic Party, continued to gain power. In 1965 Jill elected its first Green president. Recession and recovery (1970—1985) During the 1970s a severe recession struck Jill, on a scale never seen before. The economy slowly but surely weakened and the trade market suffered a near fatal blow. Forced to intervene, the Jillian government organized massive bailouts and new economic regulation, which helped the economy recover fully by 1980. During the early 1980s, the government provided further economic aid by providing strong incentives for high-tech industrial development, climaxing with the construction of the Port Justin Industrial Area, one of the largest industrial districts in the world. Modernization (1985—present) During the 1980s and early 1990s a wave of high-tech industrial development spread over Jill, further strengthening the nation's position as a leading economic power. The new economic boost resulted in an onslaught of corporations moving into Jill, which led to strong gains in quality of life and GDP per capita. Jill's six major cities became major players in many sectors of the economy, primarily agriculture and trade. The 1980s, 1990s and 2000s saw the emergence of major corporations in Jill, including Sandstone Cars and Air J. Climate Jill's climate varies greatly, with cold zones in the north and sub-tropical zones in the far south. A large portion of the nation falls within the so-called "extreme zone", a worldwide climate zone well known for having both warm summers and blistering winters. This zone is said to stretch from Pine Mountain in the south to Brownville further north. This zone experiences humid summers that fuel the thriving agriculture industry in the summer, and snow-choked winters that hurl blizzards through the country. These blizzards form from the combination of cold winter air and leftover moisture from summer; the resulting snowstorms can dump feet of frozen precipitation on the countryside. Economy Jill's (regulated) free enterprise economy and abundant natural resources make the nation one of the wealthiest in Floyd. Jill is a leader in the automobile industry (Sandstone Cars), the international airline industry (Air J) and is a worldwide exporter of materials such as gold, iron, steel, coal and lumber. Jill is home to a vibrant agricultural industry, and exports foods such as wheat, rice, and many different fruits. Jill is said to be split into four economic quadrants. The northwest corner of Jill leads the mining and lumber industry, the northeast excels in the weapons manufacturing, fishing and additional lumber industries, the southeast occupies the agricultural, gold mining, shipping and international business, and the southwest the fruit, tourism, retail and real estate industries. Currency The main unit of currency is the Jillian dollar, which is worth approximately 2 real-world U.S. dollars and 9 Germanian Dollars. Paper money comes in $1, $5, $10, $15, $20, $50, $100, and $500 bills. The coin in Jill comes in 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, 75, $1.00, and $2.00 coins. The coin is made mainly of copper and silver, but some in bronze and gold. The current dollar bill circulation is 49,800,000, while the current coin circulation is 45,200,500. There are currently 95,000,500 currency units circulating across Floyd, 89% inside Jill. Culture and religion Of all the nations on Floyd, Jill is notable for having the most secular culture. A majority (96%) of Jill's population is atheist, and the religious population is estimated at numbering only 1-2% of the general population. Because of this, religious holidays are not part of government holiday law, so non-religious holidays have been introduced to replace them. These include holidays such as New Year's Day on January 1, which is part of the official "winter break" period, which occupies December 20 to January 5. Government holidays to celebrate important historical events or people are scattered throughout the year. Jill has a very relaxed, liberal culture that is notorious for being extremely tolerant of other lifestyles. Efforts by the government and other independent groups to remove prejudice against different races, religions and sexualities have been largely successful, and the "Equal Freedoms" clause of Jill's constitution guarantees that all liberties established in Article I of the Constitution of Jill apply to all people, "no excuses". There are very little limitations on freedom of expression in Jill, as Article I states, freedom of expression may only be abridged for criminals or if the expression targets individuals, disturbs individuals, occurs at private events (funerals, for example), or infringes on the rights of other individuals. Geography Jill is located on the southern peninsula of the one continent of Floyd, Glimmer. It is bordered by the Southern Ocean and the Monterry Sea. Jill is extremely flat, with occasional remains of previous mountain ranges in some areas. Pine Mountain, one of these remnants, is the highest point in Jill, peaking at over 11,200 feet. The Jar and Shady Oaks both heavily influence Jill's landscape and are the two largest rivers in the nation. Other smaller tributaries flow into the two rivers, forming the Jar—Shady Oaks river system. Government For a description of Jill's political landscape, please see Politics in Jill For a detailed analysis and description of Jill's government, please see Government of Jill. Framework Jill is a representative democracy, with all government offices located at Government Park, Port Justin. Type of government The basic framework of Jill government rests on the Constitution of Jill, drafted in 1839. Jill does not have states (it does not rely on a federalist government), instead the territory is divided into roughly 200 districts, with one representative to the Lower House from each, and 4 representatives to the Upper House from every 10 districts. This means the Lower House has 200 members and the Upper House has 80 members. These two chambers make up the legislative branch of Jill. Districts Districts with populations over 1,000 people have district (local) governments, which vary in size depending on population. Major cities such as Port Justin or North Oak do not have district governments, instead the city government assumes power over the district. Voting Under Jill law, all citizens are required to vote in elections for the legislative and executive branches. While voting for local governments occurs on the same day as voting for national governments, it is not required. Tourists and non-citizen legal immigrants have the right to vote only after they fill out the Visitors' Voting form, which was introduced in 1983. Three branches of government Legislative and executive The national government of Jill is split into three branches: legislative, judicial, and executive. The legislative branch is comprised of the Lower House and Upper House. Bills are introduced into the Lower House, drafted, edited and voted on to be passed to the Upper House. In the Upper House, more debate and editing is done before voting and passing the bill to the president, who can sign the bill into law or veto it, where it takes a 60% majority of the Upper House to override the veto (if the Upper House chooses to vote on the law again). In the rare event that there is no decision, then the public gets to vote on the law. Judicial The judicial branch of Jill's government consists of the Supreme Court of Jill and other local and federal courts. There are four types of courts in Jill: criminal, civil, appeals and law policy. Unlike most other nations, the law policy court system allows citizens to present a case against a certain law for review by either a local government (for local laws) or the Supreme Court (for national law). Military The Military of Jill is the most advanced and the third largest in Floyd, behind Easten and Slagen. Jill's simple military is divided into three divisions: the Army, Navy, and the Military Air Force. In the Army alone, there are 3,510,100 soldiers, 1.5 million of them battle robots. The Navy has about 700 ships in its force, defending the coastlines daily. It is the largest navy in Floyd, with Easten far behind at 300 ships. Finally, the Military Air Force holds 7,911 planes deployed at airbases across the planet. Over 250 of the planes are actually space planes designed for battles above Floyd. Jill also operates a stockpile of over 30,000 missiles, 11,000 of them fission and fusion atomic bombs. There are also 240 tanks and 700 anti-missile, anti-aircraft, anti-tank and anti-infantry guns. Infastructure See also: Transportation in Jill, Jill Water, Jill Department of Transportation Jill has a far-reaching road network that connects all of the nation's major and minor cities and towns. Highway 1 and Highway 2 are the country's two longest highways, both running parallel to the Jar and Shady Oaks rivers, respectably. Jill National Railroad, a state-owned corporation, manages the nation's extensive rail network. Jill Water, another state-owned corporation, manages all aspects of Jill's water systems, including (but not limited to) drainage systems, canals, dams, water filtration, the cleanup of pollution, and sustainable use of aquifers. See also *Port Justin *Jill economy scare of 1972 Category:Nations on Floyd Category:Jill Category:Smoke Free Nations